Zoysia grass plant named `Palisades`

ABSTRACT

An asexually reproduced variety of perennial Zoysia japonica with a unique combination of characters including white stigmas, and anthers are 5.0 RP 3/6.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and distinct asexually reproduced variety of perennial zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica (L.)) Merr.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an new and distinct perennial zoysiagrass cultivar indentified as `Palisades` zoysiagrass (herein referred to as `Palisades`), that was tested as DALZ8514. `Palisades`, a Zoysia japonica, is a chance hybrid of the maternal clone `Z44`, obtained from Beltsville, MD in 1981, with an unknown pollen source from a zoysiagrass germplasm field nursery at TAES--Dallas. `Palisades` has been vegetatively propagated, and is uniform in growth expression.

For purposes of registration under the "International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants" (generally known by its French acronym as the UPOV Convention) and noting Section 1612 of the Manual of Plant Examination Procedures, the new variety of zoysiagrass of the present invention is named `Palisades` Zoysiagrass.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of the leaf orientation, blades and ligule of `Palisades`.

FIG. 2 is a close-up photograph of the leaf orientation, blades and ligule of `Palisades`.

FIG. 3 is a photograph of the in florescence of `Palisades` at anthesis.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

`Palisades` was characterized in greenhouse and field conditions. `Palisades` is a unique variety of zoysiagrass developed as described above. `Palisades` was identified as being unique and desirable and was then propagated by cutting of stolons and rhizomes, rooting them in soil, and planting of the rooted material to provide planting stock for studying performance and for comparison of morphological characters after propagation. `Palisades` has been propagated by sod, plugs, sprigs, stolons and rhizomes in greenhouse and field planting by hand and mechanical propagation in Dallas, Tex. and is uniform in growth expression. Seed reproduction with self-fertility is not common in the Zoysia sp. No seedling establishment from `Palisades` has been noticed in either greenhouse or field studies.

`Palisades` is asexually propagated by stolons and rhizomes. It has an intermediate to rapid establishment rate. When spring (stolons) or plug plantings are made in early May, the area should achieve 60-70% coverage in Dallas, Tex. in 90-120 days, with complete coverage in 180-200 days, in comparison to `Meyer` zoysiagrass which will require 360-400 days for full coverage. The stolons of `Palisades` have a mean internode length of 29.9 mm between the second and third nodes, with a mean internode width of 1.0 mm and node diameter of 1.7 mm (Table 1). The stolons of `Palisades` root adventitiously at the nodes. Color notations of plant tissues were based on the Munsell Color Charts for Plant Tissues, Munsell Color, Baltimore, Md., 1977. Light quality, photoperiod, and general growth of the plants affect color notations. The internode stolon color of `Palisades` stolons exposed to full sun is 5R 3/4.

Leaf blades of `Palisades` are rolled in the bud, and are flat and stiff. The mean leaf blade length of `Palisades` is 75.6 mm and average width is 3.4 mm (Table 2). The leaf sheath of `Palisades` is distinct from `Meyer`(unpatented) and `Crowne` (U.S. Plant Patent application Ser. No. 09/076,973 at a length of 51.2 mm (Table 3). The hairs on the abaxial leaf surface of `Palisades` are sparse in number and are approximately 0.9 mm long. Measured under greenhouse conditions in January 1996, the genetic, adaxial leaf color of `Palisades` is 2.5G 5/6 with `El Toro` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5845) having a leaf color of 2.5GY 5/2, and `Meyer` having a color of 2.5G 3/4. The ligule of `Palisades` is a fringe of silky hairs, approximately 2.8 mm in length for the longest hairs.

`Palisades` has 5RP 3/6 colored anthers and white colored stigmas, undistinguished in shade of color. The inflorescence of `Palisades` is a terminal spike-like raceme, with spikelets on short pedicels. `Palisades` has a mean length floral region of 27.2 mm, with a mean of 27.8 florets per raceme.

Thatch development is a function of age of stand, types of soils and other environments and cultural conditions. Thatch development was determined in 3 year old field plantings comparing eight commercially available cultivars. `Emerald`, `Miyako` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,187) and `Zeon` (unpatented) produced the greatest depth of thatch (26.3 mm); `Crowne`, `Palisades` and `DeAnza` produced an intermediate amount of thatch (25,23 and 23 mm, respectively), and Cavalier and Meyer produced the least amount of thatch (20 and 19 mm respectively).

The chromosome number of `Palisades` is 40.

`Palisades` is rated as having low supplemental water needs similar to `Crowne` and `El Toro` to maintain active growing turf (Table 4). When `Palisades` was compared with 59 other zoysiagrasses for salinity tolerance, it ranked number 34 in performance and was superior to `Meyer` (Table 5). When compared to other commercial varieties for root growth, `Palisades` was not different from `El Toro` or `Meyer` in average root depth, root weight, or clipping weights (Table 6).

`Palisades` was entered in the 1991 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP). `Palisades`, in the 1991 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program Zoysiagrass Trial for the years 1992-1995 had mean quality ratings of 5.8, 5.8, 5.5 and 5.4 for overall quality (Table 7).

`Palisades` rated among the best for the broad leaf textural class 4. `Palisades` shows intermediate resistance to the zoysiagrass mite (Table 8). The varieties `Meyer`, `Belair` (unpatented), and most experimental zoysiagrasses are very susceptible to the mite. This mite has been found in Maryland, Texas, and Florida, all extensive zones of use for zoysiagrasses.

`Palisades` is distinguished from other zoysiagrasses by its combined unique morphological differences in leaf width, length, and floral characters of sheath and seed head length. It is a medium-coarse textured, thick stolon, and rhizome producing grass with good recuperative ability. It has good shade tolerance and low water use needs. It is moderate in salinity tolerance. `Palisades` is intermediate to superior in its average growth rate and has good to excellent winter hardiness and will persist in regions north to Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Internode length as measured between the second and third nodes,               internode diameter of the third internode, and node diameter of the            third node measured on zoysiagrass plants. Plants were growing in a            growth chamber with a 14-hr daylength, March 1995                                          Internode   Internode                                                                               Node                                                      length      diameter diameter                                      Genotype    mm          mm       mm                                            ______________________________________                                         `Crowne`    17.7a*      0.9abc   1.1 bc                                        `Cavalier`  18.4a       1.4abc   1.4abc                                        (U.S. Plant                                                                    Pat. No. 10,778)                                                               `Meyer`     24.1a       2.0a     2.0a                                          `Palisades` 29.9a       1.0a     1.7ab                                         `El Toro`   39.98a      1.4abc   1.4abc                                        ______________________________________                                          *Analysis of variance by General Linear Models, with means followed by th      same letter not significantly different using Tukey's Studentized Range        (HSD), alpha = 0.05. Only selected means presented.                      

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Leaf blade width and length measured on the third youngest                     leaf of zoysiagrass. Plants were growing in a growth chamber with a            14-hr daylength, March 1995                                                                  Blade width                                                                              Blade length                                           Genotype      mm        mm                                                     ______________________________________                                         `Cavalier`    1.3d*     60.7cd                                                 `Meyer`       2.6 c     74.3 bc                                                `Crowne`      3.0abc    72.7 bc                                                `El Toro`     3.3abc    68.3 bcd                                               `Palisades`   3.4ab     75.6 bc                                                ______________________________________                                          * Analysis of variance by General Linear Models, with means followed by        the same letter not significantly different using Tukey's Studentized          Range (HSD), alpha = 0.05. Only selected means presented.                

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         Zoysiagrass leaf sheath length measurements taken                              February 1988 on the fourth youngest leaf from greenhouse                      grown plants                                                                                    Sheath length                                                 Genotype         mm                                                            ______________________________________                                         `Emerald`(unpatented)                                                                           16.3 ij                                                       `Cavalier`       28.9 ef                                                       `Meyer`          30.7 cd                                                       `Crowne`         42.9 b*                                                       `Palisades`      51.25a                                                        ______________________________________                                          *Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different using       the WallerDuncan k ratio test (k ratio = 100). Only selected means             presented.                                                               

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                         Supplemental irrigation water requirement for commercial and                   experimental zoysiagrasses during July 1989 through August 1991 at             Dallas, Texas*                                                                                    Irrigation                                                                     Requirement                                                               Textural                                                                              1989   1990   1991                                                      Class  mm/yr        Mean                                         ______________________________________                                         `Diamond`       1        461    435  567  488                                  (U.S. Plant                                                                    Pat. No. 10,636)                                                               DALZ8501        1        449    544  429  474                                  FC13521         3        482    448  443  457                                  DALZ8517        3        475    402  487  455                                  `Emerald`       3        464    343  503  437                                  DALZ8506        3        458    379  455  431                                  DALZ8515        3        469    419  394  427                                  DALZ8508        2        447    379  398  408                                  DALZ8510        3        449    310  413  390                                  `Cashmere`      1        435    424  311  390                                  U.S. Plant                                                                     Pat. No. 6,529                                                                 `Cavalier`      3        464    175  441  360                                  DALZ8504        2        478    363  138  326                                  DALZ8503        2        441    280  193  305                                  DALZ8511        2        451    353  200  304                                  DALZ8516        2        462    377  25   288                                  `Meyer`         2        450    321  74   276                                  `Korean Common`(unpatented)                                                                    4        470    174  88   244                                  `El Toro`       4        417    21   6    148                                  `Palisades`     4        358    26   12   132                                  `Crowne`        4        256    12   12   93                                                   MSD.sup.†                                                                        129    169  242  155                                                  Rainfall.sup.‡                                                               1092   1118 1143 1118                                 ______________________________________                                          .sup.†MSD, minimum significant difference for comparison of means       within columns based on the WallerDuncan kratio ttest where k = 100.           .sup.‡Total annual precipitation in mm.                             *White et al. 1993.                                                      

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                         * Average percent shoot salt injury (average of 20 rating dates) on            zoysiagrass entries in the 1991 NTEP.sup.† Trials                       Entry         Source    Species.sup.‡                                                                 % Injury                                     ______________________________________                                         `Diamond`     NTEP 20   matrella  33ab.sup..English Pound.                     `El Toro`     NTEP 13   japonica  38a-e                                        `Emerald`     NTEP 10   jap x tenu                                                                               42a-h                                        `Cavalier`    NTEP 17   matrella  42a-h                                        `Crowne`      NTEP 15   japonica  46 e-k                                       `Palisades`   NTEP 14   japonica  46 e-k                                       `Belair`      NTEP 11   japonica  50 f-k                                       `Meyer`       NTEP 09   japonica  58 lmn                                       `Korean Common`                                                                              NTEP 07   japonica  76 pq                                        ______________________________________                                          * Selected data set; complete data set includes 59 varieties and               cultivars. .sup.† NTEP = National Turfgrass Evaluation Program.         .sup.‡ Species identity. .sup..English Pound. Means followed b      the same letter are not significantly different, based on the WallerDunca      kratio ttest (kratio = 100)                                                    In Marcum, K. B., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton and C. Dayton. 1994.             Salinity tolerances of selected bermudagrass an zoysiagrass genotypes. TX      Turfgrass Res. 1993, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5140: 105-107.           

                  TABLE 6                                                          ______________________________________                                         Average mean root depth of zoysiagrass grown in flexible tubes in              greenhouse studies, Dallas, TX                                                          Average Mean  Total Root                                                                              Clipping                                                Root Depth    Weight   Weights                                        Variety  mm            mg       mg                                             ______________________________________                                         `Cavalier`                                                                              255           278      243                                            `Belair` 296           330      286                                            `Palisades`                                                                             318           457      452                                            `Emerald`                                                                               330           461      241                                            `Meyer`  333           411      466                                            `Crowne` 355           497      406                                            `El Toro`                                                                               356           473      391                                            MSD      79            161      267                                            ______________________________________                                          *MSD = minimum significant difference for comparison of means within           columns based on the WallerDuncan kratio test where k = 100.                   In Marcum, K. B., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton, and R. H. White. 1995.          Rooting characteristics and associated drought resistance of                   zoysiagrasses. Agron. J. 87:534-538.                                     

                  TABLE 7                                                          ______________________________________                                         Mean Turfgrass quality ratings of vegetative zoysiagrass cultivars grown       in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program at 23 locations in the U.S.       for 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995                                                             Leaf                                                                           Texture                       Overall                              Variety     Class   1992   1993 1994 1995 4-Yr Avg.                            ______________________________________                                         `Cavalier`  .sup. 3.sup.1                                                                          6.0    6.2  5.9  6.0  5.9                                  TC2033      2       5.8    6.1  6.1  6.0  5.9                                  `Sunburst`(unpatented)                                                                     2       5.8    5.9  5.8  5.9  5.8                                  TC 5018             5.8    5.8  5.9  5.7  5.8                                  `Emerald`   2       5.7    6.2  6.0  5.7  5.8                                  `Omni`(unpatented)                                                                         2       5.6    6.1  6.1  6.0  5.7                                  QT 2004             5.6    6.0  5.9  5.6  5.6                                  DALZ8508    2       5.6    6.1  5.7  5.6  5.6                                  `Palisades` 4       5.8    5.8  5.5  5.4  5.6                                  DALZ9006    3       5.6    6.0  5.6  5.5  5.6                                  `Crowne`    4       5.8    5.8  5.5  5.4  5.6                                  `El Toro`   4       5.8    5.6  5.3  5.4  5.5                                  CD 259-13           5.3    5.5  5.7  5.5  5.4                                  `Meyer`     2       5.3    5.7  5.8  5.5  5.4                                  QT 2047             5.4    5.4  5.3  5.2  5.3                                  `Belair`    2       5.0    5.6  5.6  5.0  5.2                                  DALZ 8516   2       4.7    5.4  5.0  5.0  4.9                                  `Diamond`   1       4.4    5.0  4.6  4.4  4.4                                  DALZ8501    1       4.9    4.3  4.0  4.0  4.3                                  DALZ8701    1       4.2    4.1  3.7  3.6  3.8                                  LSD VALUE           0.2    0.2  0.2  0.2  0.2                                  ______________________________________                                          To determine statistical differences among entries, subtract one entry's       mean from another entry's mean. Statistical difference occurs when this        value is larger than the corresponding LSD value (LSD 0.05). .sup.1            Textural class of zoysiagrass where 1 = short, narrow leaves; 2 = short,       wide leaves; 3 = long, narrow leave; and 4 = long, wide leaves.                In National Zoysiagrass Test  1991. Final Report 1992-95, NTEP No. 9615;       (Table 4); United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research      Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD 20705.  

                  TABLE 8                                                          ______________________________________                                         Mean number of mite-damaged leaves per zoysiagrass plant (N = 18)                                                Combined                                     Cultivar  April 3, 1992                                                                               April 24, 1992                                                                            Dates                                        ______________________________________                                         DALZ9006  0.2a*        0.2a       0.2a                                         DALZ8508  0.7b         0.6ab      0.6b                                         DALZ8516  1.8d         0.3ab      1.0b                                         `Emerald` 1.3bc        0.9b       1.1b                                         DALZ8501  1.4cd        2.6c       2.0c                                         `Crowne`  5.4ef        2.3c       3.9d                                         `El Toro` 5.6ef        2.8c       4.2d                                         TC2033    4.4e         4.3d       4.4d                                         `Palisades`                                                                              7.5fg        4.0cd      5.8e                                         CD2031    7.6gh        7.9e       7.8f                                         Diamond   7.8gh        9.4ef      8.6g                                         DALZ8701  9.3h         9.4ef      9.4g                                         `Cavalier`                                                                               9.1h         9.8ef      9.5g                                         `Meyer`   9.9h         9.9ef      9.9g                                         `Belair`  10.0h        9.9f       9.9g                                         JZ-1      10.0h        9.9f       10.0g                                        ______________________________________                                          *Data transformed using log (X + 0.5) for analysis. Means in a column          followed by the same letter are not significantly different by                 WallerDuncan kratio test (k = 100) (P = 0.05).                                 Reinert, J. A., M. C. Engelke, and S. J. Morton. 1993. Zoysiagrass             resistance to the zoysiagrass mite, Eriphyes zoysiae (Acari: Eriophyidae)      In R. N. Carrow, N. E. Christians, and R. C. Shermans (Eds.).                  International Turfgrass Society Research Journal 7. Intertec Publishing        Corp., Overland Park, KS. pp. 349-352.                                    

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct cultivar of Zoysia japonica plant as herein shown and described. 